Jorge Posada wearing anything but Yankees pinstripes? That would have seemed impossible a few months ago.
Not anymore.
Posada, a career-long Yankee who is celebrating his 20th year with the organization, said he would consider playing for another team once his contract is up at the end of this season.
“It could [happen],” Posada told The Post yesterday. “I don’t know what’s going to happen after this year. But we’ll see.”
That’s quite a change from Saturday, when Posada lauded Yankees fans after smashing a grand slam and driving in six runs in a 9-2 win over the Rays in his first game in a week.
Afterwards, manager Joe Girardi called Posada “a beloved Yankee.” And Posada, who took a curtain call after his grand slam, prasied Yankees fans for being “so supportive” of him.
“The fans are a big reason why I love playing the game, and especially here,” Posada said Saturday. “I play for them.”
Nevertheless, Posada would consider playing for another team, though he admitted leaving The Bronx would be difficult.
And it almost happened before. Posada pointed out yesterday he had been “very close” to leaving the Yankees for the Mets after the 2007 season. He confirmed the Mets offered him a five-year contract, but he elected to turn down that deal and re-sign with the Yankees.
Posada, who will celebrate his 40th birthday on Wednesday, is in the final year of the four-year contract he signed that year, and this season has been a maddening one.
Prior to the season, the Yankees told Posada he was no longer going to catch, but would be the primary designated hitter. Then, on May 14, Girardi shifted him to ninth in the batting order, prompting Posada to ask out of the lineup. Last weekend, with Posada mired in a stretch of 27 games without a home run (and only four RBIs in that time), Girardi decided he was going to bench Posada and use Eric Chavez as the DH against righty pitchers.
During spring training, Posada told The Post’s Kevin Kernan although he “would like to stay here,” he “would [consider other teams], if it’s the right situation.” Since that time, Posada’s season has only gotten more turbulent.
Posada was slated to DH again yesterday against Rays righty James Shields, but the Yankees were rained out. Posada said he was unsure if he was still going to get the nod tonight in Kansas City, but with the Royals starting righty Felipe Paulino, he has a decent chance of playing.
“We’ve just got to keep him ready,” hitting coach Kevin Long said yesterday. “Joe said it best when he said that he’s going to help us at some point win games. And [Saturday’s] a prime example of a guy who could have gone one of two ways with what happened. And he just kept grinding and kept working and saying to himself, ‘Listen, I’m going to get an opportunity and when I get that chance, I’m going to be ready to go,’ and that’s exactly what happened.”
A borderline Hall-of-Famer, Posada is hitting .237 with 10 homers, 37 RBIs and a .314 on-base percentage in 287 at-bats this season. Saturday’s grand slam was his first homer since June 29, an 84-at-bat stretch.
“It was so good for everybody,” Long said of the slam. “Everybody felt — I don’t know, if you want to say relief — there was some of that involved. But I think more than anything, everybody was happy for Jorge. Especially the way he handled everything.”